Automatic arc-lamp cut-out.



1. E. QBOESCH.

AUTOMATIC ARC LAMP'CUT-OUT.

APPLICATION FILED 050.22.1913.

1,147,700. Patented July 27, 1915.

2 "SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES:

A TTORIVEK JOHN EMILE BOESCH, OF VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

AUTOMATIC ARC-LAMP CUT-OUT.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1915.

Application filed December 22, 1913. Serial No. 808,231. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. BoEsoH, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Arc- Lamp Cut-Outs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a cutout by which an are light and its lead wires may, at a sufficient height above the ground level to be safe from accident, be cut out from the circuit by which it is served.

Arc lamps as used for suburban street lighting are usually in series and are suspended on a line from the end of an arm projectingfrom the post which carries the circuit wires, which suspending line passes over sheaves at the end of the arm and at the connection of the arm to the post and down the post to a convenient position for the trimmer to lower and raise the lamp. The

wires conducting the current to the lamp pass down the post to a position thereon approximately half the height of the lamp from the ground-from which place the leads are looped to the lamp so as to form a flexible connection permitting the lamp to be raised and lowered.

A switch is usually provided on the lamp to enable the trimmer to cut out the lamp from the circuit'while lie is attending to it, but the high voltage current not being cut ofi from the wire is present at the lamp and is a source of danger. Beyond that is the fact that the lead wires to the lamp may become disconnected and fall to the ground where they form an instant source of darn. ger. Not only so, but as the lamps are in series, if a lead wire becomes disconnected at one lamp, it throws out of use all the lamps in the same circuit, and is not easy at night for a repair man to locate the source of such trouble and remedy The device, whichis the subject of this application, is designed to overcome these several objections. It is located under weather shelter at the place on the post from which the'swinging lead wires are led to the suspended lamp, and may be operable as a switch by the lamp trimmer to out off the current from the lamp and also from the loop of lead wires thereto. it has also provision by which, if the lamp be lowered to an extent to impose the weight of it on the lead wires so as to endanger their connec 'tions, the switch is automatically pulled out circuit is not interrupted for the otherlamps.

The invention is particularly described in the following specification, reference being made to the drawings by which it is accompanied, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the post showing the application of the safety lamp cutout thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of the switch in front elevation. Fig. 3, a side elevation of the same, and Fig. l is a cross section on the line A. in Fig. 2 showing the resilient contacts of the switch lever. Fig. 5 is a section on line BB of Fig. 2.

(in referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, 2 represents an arc lamp which is suspended by a line 3 from the end of an arm or bracket 5, which line passes over a sheave d at the end of the arm and at the connection of that arm to the post, and down the post to a convenient height for the trimmer to lower and raise the lamp. The lamp 2 is served with current from the circuit wire 6 by wires 7 and 8 which pass down the post to the cutout, which is the particular subject of this application. This cutout is located on the post at about two feet above the half height of the lam from the ground. The lead wires from t. e cutout on the post to the lamp 2 are represented by 9 and 10.

The base board 11 of the switch is secured on extra high insulation 12 to the back board 13 of the weather shelter which shelter has a back, sides and top but is open at front and bottom. The ends of the wires 7 and 8 from the circuit are connected at 15 and 16 to contacts 17 and 18 which are bent inward, as shown in Fig. 4, and have a resilient tendency to hold their ends in contact, so that when there is nothing separating the contacts 17 and 18 the circuit 6, which serves this lamp in series with a num ber of others, is not interrupted at this lamp but the lamp itself is cut out of the circuit. These contacts 17 and 18 are held apart and the current is conducted from them to serve the lamp by a switch lever 20 of wood or nutsoastoberea their ends against the ends of a plug 26 of carbon which passes through the thickness of the lever 20 from one side to the other and projects slightly beyond its thickness.

When the ends of the copper strips 23.-24;

are in contact with the carbon plug the lamp circuit is closed at this point.

The extreme ends of 2324 are bent outward, as at 31, and to them are soft soldered the similar turned-in ends of strips 2728 which aresecured one on each sidejof the lever 20 by cleats 29, and below these cleats have socket terminals 33.34 to receive the ends of the lamp lead wires 9 and-10." The strips 27-28 have a resilient tendency to spring outward from contact with the lever 20, as indicated by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, but this resilient efii'ort outward is less than that of the strips 232 l inward,

so that the resilience of 2324 overcomes thatof 27-28 and .enables the distance of each soldered end 31 from the ends of the carbon plug 26 to be regulated by ,a set 35 screw 30 which is threaded into a nut secured in each strip, 27-28.

When the lamp is in circuit the current will pass from the line wire 6 through the wires'7. and 8 to the contact terminals 17 and 0 18 of the cut-out, from them through. the

conductingstrips 23-2 l and 27-28 on each side of the lever 20 and therefrom to the a lamp through the lead wires 9 and 10 which are connected to the conducting strips of the cut-out lever at the socket terminals 23-24.

' If, however, either of the lead wires 9 or-10 becomes disconnected, the current at four thousand volts, will arc across from the soldered ends 31 and 32 to the carbon plug The heat of the arc will immediately release the soldered ends 31 32, which, under their resilience, will spring into contact with the ends of the plug 26 and will close the circuit thereon, while the ends of 27-28, when re- ,55 leased, will spring outward, and will effectively cut out the lamp 2 and its lead wires 9 and 10 from the circuit, rendering them harmless to eflectany injury if they should fall'toward the ground where'they might be encountered by a passerby.

It will be noticed that the terminals 33-34 on the lever 20 to which the lead wires 9 and 10 of the lamp are connected, are adjacent to the fulcrum pin 19 of that lever.

These wires pass upward therefrom and are have a measure of resiliencetending to hold when such accident occurs.

passed in opposite directions through a porcelain bushing 35, which is secured in a bracket 36 of bent wire, which issecured to the lever 20 to pro'ect from it in the plane of its movement on t e pivot 19. From this bushing 35 the wires pass upward to the lamp when it is in its normal position of suspension. With this manner of connection,.if the lamp is lowered beyond the limit necessary to conveniently trim it, seethe dot 5 and dash lines in Fig. 1, so as to impose a tension on the lead wires 9 and 10, the pull on these wires will impose a turning moment on the switch lever 20 that will pull it out from between the contacts 1718, and the so resilience of those contacts will bring their ends together to close the circuit thereat and l to cut the lamp and its lead wires out of the circuit.

The bracket 36 has an eye 38 formed in it beyond the bushing 35, in which eye a hook on the end of a wooden rod may be inserted by the lamp trimmer that he may pull down .the lever 20 to cut the lamp out of the circuit, before he proceeds to lower it, and may restore the switch when the lamp has been attended to and raised to its place.

So constructed and applied the device forms a comparatively cheap and convenient provision, primarily protecting the public against accident if either of the lead wires should .become detached from the lamp and fall to the ground; and not only sobut it also prevents the current being cut off in the entire circuit feeding a number of lamps It is also a convenient switch cutting out both the lamp and its lead Wires from the circuit when the lamp is being trimmed; or if the trimmer or any unauthorized person should attempt to lower the lamp without first cutting it out from the circuit the Weight of the lamp itself will efiect that cut out.

The fact that the lamp and its loose lead wires 'may be out entirely out of the circuit, alone removes a source of considerable in convenience and danger, for although present provis'ionmay allow the lamp to be cut out, the lampv must first be lowered, and the presence of loaded Wires at the lamp, while the trlmmer 1s working at it, is a menace.

Devices are used wherein the lamp is connected tothe circuit at the point of suspension, and the lamp is disconnected. and

the circuit closed when the lamp is lowered, but in such case, although the loaded wires are not lowered to the ground with'the lamp the current cannot be cut oil from the lamp before lowering is effected, so that if there is any defective insulation adjacent to the 126 lamp connection, the current may pass down the line by which the lamp is lowered.

A further, most important advantage of this cut-out from an economical point of view lies inthe fact that the main circuit,

' which may be serving fifty to a hundred lamps, is not interrupted at a lamp, when anything is wrong with the lamp or its loose leads, as in suchevent the main circuit is automatically closed at the pole cut-out: If, therefore, indication is given at the station that the current is not flowing through the circuit, the lineman is safe to assume that the breakis on the pole line, and it .is not necessary, as at present, to examine and test all the lamps. The current may, therefore, be cut off from the circuit and the linemen proceed to discover and repair the line.

aving now particularly described my invention, I hereby declare that what I claim as new and desire. to be protected in by Letters Patent, is:

1. A cut-out switch for arc lamp service and the like, which includes a support, a pair of contacts on said support and adapted to engage each other, a pivoted knife, circuit terminals carried by said knife and adapted to engage said contacts when said knife is inserted between the same to separate them, lead wires from said knife contacts, a physical connection between said lead wires and said knife whereby a pull on said lead wires 1 will separate said knife from said first mentioned contacts to cut out said lead wires from the circuit.

2. A cut out switch for are lamp service and the like which includes a support, a pair of self-engaging contacts on said support, said contacts adapted to be separated, a pivot knife, circuit terminals carried by said knife and adapted to engage said contacts when said knife is inserted between the same to separate them, lead wires from said knife carried circuit terminals, a physical connection between said lead wires and said knife whereby a pull on said lead wires will separate, said knife from said self-engaging contacts to cut out said lead wires from the circuit, and means for short circuiting said knife circuit terminals in the event of the breaking of said lead wires to thereby close the circuit between said knife circuit terminals and open the circuit connection between said knife circuit terminals and said lead .wires. a

ing connections between said sets of lead wires, means for opening the circuit between said first and second mentioned sets of lead wires upon a pull'on the first mentioned set of lead wires, a conductor located between the said connections at said terminal place but normally out of electrical connection with the same, said conductor being so located with relation to said connections that when there is a break in the continuity of the circuit between \said electrically energized mechanism and said terminal place, an arc will be established, and means whereby the heat of said are will effect the closing of the circuit between said second mentioned lead wires and disconnect the same from said first mentioned lead wires.

4. In an electric circuit, a cut-out, leading in wires and leading out wires to and from said cut-out respectively, said cut-out in circuit at the cut-out between the leading in wires upon an interruption of the circuit through the leading out wires and simultaneously opening the circuit connection between said leading in wires and said leading out wires.

5. In an electric circuit, a cut-out, leading in wires and leading out wires to and from said cut-out respectively, said cut-out including a movable switch device for opening the circuit connections between said leading in and leading out wires and simultaneously closing the circuit between said leading in wires, and other means for closing the circuit between said leading in wires themselves and opening the circuit between said leading in and said leading out wires upon a break in the circuit through said leading out wires.

6. In an electric circuit, a cut-out, leading in wires and leading out wires to and from said cut-out respectively, said cut-out including a movable switch device for open ing the circuit connections between said leading in and leading out wires and simultaneously closing the circuit between said leading in wires, and other means for closing the circuit between said leading in wires and opening the circuit between said leading out wires upon a break in the circuit through said leading out wires, said last named means comprising a pair of terminal connections normally separated from each other, an arc plug between said connections but normally disconnected therefrom whereby an opening of'the circuit in the leading out wires will establish an arcing potential across said plug and means operable by the heat of the arc for bringing said terminal connections into physical contact with said plug to thereby establish a short circuit across the same.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN EMILE BOESCH.

Witnesses:

ROWLAND BRITTAIN, MAY WHYTE. 

